In the wake of Damar Hamlin going into cardiac arrest after a routine tackle on Monday night, no one in their right mind was thinking about the on-field football ramifications. While Hamlin continues to recover with powerful messages from his doctors, the NFL has started to slowly look ahead to January’s postseason a few days after the fact.
The big news (again, entirely ancillary to Hamlin’s health) is that the formerly suspended Bills-Bengals game from Monday is now officially cancelled and will not be resumed, per a league statement on Thursday night. The league cited that the decision will not affect who will qualify for the playoffs, nor will anyone be eliminated by the no-contest. In addition, having both teams still play would’ve required pushing back the playoff schedule by a week, something the league didn’t want to do in adherence to “competitive principles” for all 14 participating squads.
